Board game with scissors, rock, and paper pieces which are faced down at the start of game

ABSTRACT

A board game includes a chessboard having squares arranged in a pattern on the chessboard; and pieces adapted to place on the squares respectively, each piece having a no-mark face-up side and a face-down side with either of diagonal lines or a grid of lines being printed thereon. The pieces with the diagonal lines are identified as one side and the pieces with the grid of lines are identified as the opposing side. Either side has one half the number of the pieces. The face-down side of each piece is marked with a scissors, a rock, or a paper. The pieces belonging to either side are grouped as the scissors pieces, the rock pieces, and the paper pieces, all being equal in numbers. The board game is particularly intended to be played by two individuals such as children or non-Chinese adults who cannot read Chinese characters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to board games and more particularly to such a board game having 36 scissors, rock, and paper pieces which are faced down at the start of a game which is intended to be played by two individuals such as children or non-Chinese adults who cannot read Chinese characters.

2. Description of Related Art

Xiangqi (i.e., Chinese chess) is a popular board game being played by Chinese worldwide. There are 32 pieces which are divided into two (e.g., red and black) sides (e.g., marshal, advisors, ministers, horses, chariots, cannons, and privates for the red side and general, guards, war elephants, cavaliers, rooks, catapults, and soldiers for the black side) in Xiangqi. Xiangqi has a number of variants and a different number of rules.

One playing rule for Xiangqi is detailed below. Initially, all pieces are faced down and are placed on 32 squares of either half of a chessboard. One player may first flip one piece which is painted in a color (e.g., red or black) in order to determine either the red or black pieces are belonged to the player and thus the other color pieces are belonged to the other player. Next, the other player flips another piece. Next, one player may flip still another piece or move any face-up piece belonged to the player. Next, the other player takes a similar action. The game is played alternately between these two players. For example, marshal piece beats general piece, guard pieces, war elephant pieces, cavalier pieces, rook pieces, and catapult pieces, and soldier and general pieces beat marshal piece; an advisor piece wins guard pieces, war elephant pieces, cavalier pieces, rook pieces, catapult pieces, and soldier pieces, and general and guard pieces win advisor pieces, and so on. A piece of one side beats a piece of the other side by moving vertically or horizontally according to the above rule with the beaten piece being then removed from the chessboard. The game ends when one side with no piece being left on the chessboard (i.e., loser). Hence, the other side is winner.

However, a person must understand these Chinese characters marked on the pieces prior to following the rule of playing Xiangqi. Hence, unfortunately this rule of playing Xiangqi is not intended to be played by two individuals such as children or non-Chinese adults who cannot read Chinese characters.

Thus, a need for improvement exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a board game comprising a chessboard having a plurality of squares arranged in a predetermined pattern on the surface of the chessboard; and a plurality of pieces adapted to place on the squares respectively, each piece having a face-up side with no mark being printed thereon and a face-down side with either a plurality of diagonal lines or a grid of lines being printed thereon; wherein the pieces with the diagonal lines on the face-down side are identified as one side and the pieces with the grid of lines on the face-down side are identified as the opposing side; either side has one half the number of the pieces; the face-down side of each piece is marked with a scissors, a rock, or a paper; and the pieces belonging to either side are grouped as the scissors pieces, the rock pieces, and the paper pieces, all being equal in numbers.

At the start of the board game, the squares are occupied by the randomly arranged pieces with marked sides being faced down. Next, one player may flip one piece to expose the face-down side thereof in order to determine either the pieces with the diagonal lines or the pieces with the grid of lines marked on the face-down side are belonged to the player. Next, the other player flips another piece. Next, one player may flip still another piece or move any face-up piece belonged to the player. Next, the other player takes a similar action. The game is played alternately between these two players. For example, a scissors piece beats a paper piece, a paper piece beats a rock piece, and a rock piece beats a scissors piece. A piece of one side beats a piece of the other side by moving vertically or horizontally according to the above rule with the beaten piece being then removed from the chessboard. The game ends when one side (i.e., loser) with no piece being left on the chessboard.

Preferably, the board game is intended to be played by two individuals such as children or non-Chinese adults who cannot read Chinese characters.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the chessboard of a board game according to the invention where the chessboard being half opened;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fully open chessboard with all squares being occupied by the face-down pieces;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the chessboard of FIG. 2 where two pieces are fliped to show their face-down sides which are differently configured to represent two opposing sides; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the board game being played with a number of empty squares due to removal of the beaten pieces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a board game in accordance with the invention is shown and comprises the following components as discussed in detail below.

A chessboard 10 is divided along a central line into two identical open compartments. The chessboard 10 is adapted to fold along the central line to form a rectangular box for containing playing pieces. There are 36 squares 11 arranged in a six-by-six square on the surface of the open chessboard 10.

36 pieces 20 are adapted to place on the squares 11 respectively. Each piece 20 has a face-up side with no mark being printed and a face-down side with either a plurality of diagonal lines 21 or a grid of lines 22 being printed thereon. The pieces 20 with the plurality of diagonal lines 21 on the face-down side are identified as one side and the pieces 20 with the grid of lines 22 on the face-down side are identified as the opposing side. Either side has 18 pieces 20 which have its face-down sides being marked with a scissors, a rock, or a paper. That is, either side has six scissors pieces 23, six rock pieces 24, and six paper pieces 25.

The rule of playing this board game is detailed below. Initially, the squares 11 are occupied by the randomly arranged pieces 20 with marked sides being faced down (see FIG. 2). Next, one player may first flip one piece 20 to expose the face-down side thereof in order to determine either the pieces 20 with the diagonal lines 21 or the pieces 20 with the grid of lines 22 marked on the face-down side are belonged to the player. Next, the other player flips another piece 20. Next, one player may flip still another piece 20 or move any face-up piece 20 belonged to the player. Next, the other player takes a similar action. The game is played alternately between these two players. For example, a scissors piece 23 beats a paper piece 25, a paper piece 25 beats a rock piece 24, and a rock piece 24 beats a scissors piece 23. A piece 20 of one side beats a piece 20 of the other side by moving vertically or horizontally according to the above rule with the beaten piece 20 being then removed from the chessboard 10. The game ends when one side with no piece 20 being left on the chessboard 10 (i.e., loser). Hence, the other side is winner.

The invention has the following advantage. Any children or non-Chinese adults who cannot read Chinese characters (e.g., Chinese characters representing marshal, advisor, minister, horse, chariot, cannon, private, general, guard, war elephant, cavalier, rook, catapult, and soldier) can play the board game. Hence, the invention is very attractive to them.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. 

1. A board game comprising: a chessboard having a plurality of squares arranged in a predetermined pattern on the surface of the chessboard; and a plurality of pieces adapted to place on the squares respectively, each piece having a face-up side with no mark being printed thereon and a face-down side with either a plurality of diagonal lines or a grid of lines being printed thereon; wherein the pieces with the diagonal lines on the face-down side are identified as one side and the pieces with the grid of lines on the face-down side are identified as the opposing side; either side has one half the number of the pieces; the face-down side of each piece is marked with a scissors, a rock, or a paper; and the pieces belonging to either side are grouped as the scissors pieces, the rock pieces, and the paper pieces, all being equal in numbers.
 2. The board game of claim 1, wherein the squares are arranged in a six-by-six square.
 3. The board game of claim 1, wherein the chessboard is divided into two identical open compartments along a central line, and the chessboard is adapted to fold along the central line to form a closed rectangular box for containing the pieces. 